..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

Although gloom and outrage are the most palpable emotions that overcome movie lovers in the minutes and hours that follow in the annual announcement of Oscar nominees, the recitation of Emmy nominations each July merely tends to leave lovers of diverse and stimulating television programming shaking their collective heads.

The disappointment comes mostly in the form of recognizing missed opportunities, rather than being confronted with outright frauds. The politics, hype and media hysteria surrounding the Oscar derby -- and, yes, the pathetic Golden Globes, as well -- have become so overwhelmingly onerous of late that the whole sick exercise has assumed all the glamour of watching a corpse decompose.

If only because the television academy offers more categories in which to compete, the Emmys generally are more successful in locating programming of value, and spreading the wealth come nomination time. Then, too, knowing that the editors of glossy magazines, tabloids and broadcast newsmagazines don’t expend quite the same effort in covering the Emmy ceremony, the marketing process plays out in a much lower key. And, for that, the Lord be praised.

Thursday morning’s announcement of Emmy finalists revealed few substantial surprises, even though the academy changed the rules a couple of years back to avoid the parade of usual suspects at the September ceremony. Naturally, HBO continued its dominance, by scoring an astounding 124 nominations, 41 of which were recorded by the dynamic duo of Angels in America and The Sopranos (Six Feet Under wasn’t eligible this year). Coming in a distant second was NBC, with 65 nominees (down from 78 a year ago); CBS, with 44 (down from 58); ABC’s 33 (no change); and Fox (31, down two). Among the basic cable rabble, A&E was tops with 24 nominations.

David Milch’s gloriously profane freshman series, Deadwood, added 11 nods to HBO’s side of the ledger, one fewer than the broadcast network’s best, The West Wing. Impressive, to be sure, but the academy still somehow managed to ignore Ian McShane’s weekly tour de force on Deadwood, as saloonkeeper/pimp Al Swearengen, while rightly honoring Brad Dourif and Robin Weigert in the supporting groupings.

The post-Modern western was snubbed, as well, in the Best Drama Series race. But, then, so were The Shield, Nip/Tuck, The Wire, Carnivale, Street Time, any one of a dozen BBC America series, Queer as Folk, and The L Word. (The academy did recognize gay programming in its typically timid fashion, by nominating the inane Will & Grace, and saluting the cable-to-network howler, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. No sex, please, we’re American.)

Over on the comedy side, Fox's delightfully twisted Arrested Development blessedly trumped the yearlong wakes that played out as the final season of Friends and Frasier.

Everybody Loves Raymond, again, will go in as the odds-on favorite in any category in which its nominated. As hard as I try, though, it’s still difficult for me to get too excited about the show, which, for my money, is just another better-than-average sitcom. In my opinion, Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer have the best show on CBS’ Monday night line-up, Two and a Half Men. I also was disappointed that Showtime’s The Chris Isaak Show didn’t make the cut, and the academy was allowed to keep The Office and its wonderful star, Ricky Gervais, from stealing America’s thunder as Best Comedy series (as they did at the Globes, in January).

Hands-down, The Office was the best scripted comedy series on television last year, but it didn’t offer enough episodes to suit the academy. The second funniest series, Chappelle’s Show, was recognized in the catch-all Comedy/Variety/Music category.

It probably will be impossible for TV historians to determine if the voters offered seven nods to Showtime’s The Reagans more out of respect for the product, or in response to CBS’ cowardly decision to dump the telepic when a few right-wing yahoos raised a ripple of protest. Knowing the academy, the noms could just as easily come from a desire to see Barbra Streisand hold husband James Brolin’s hand when is name is read from the list of nominees.

Already, the ceremony might turn out to be the most star-studded in history. It conceivably could feature appearances by Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Meryl Streep and Mary-Louise Parker (Angels in America), Glenn Close (The Lion in Winter), Judy Davis (The Reagans), Helen Mirren (Prime Suspect 6), Julie Andrews (Eloise at Christmastime), Antonio Banderas (And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself) and Mos Def (Something the Lord Made), Alan Rickman (Something the Lord Made) and Sharon Stone (The Practice), among other marquee stars from the television universe.

Even with all that fire power, though, the moments I’ll set my TiVo to record are those in which the unpredictable Chappelle might be allowed to ad-lib, and when some unfortunate celebrity pairing will be required to announce the nomination of Showtime’s Penn & Teller: Bullshit! (May I suggest McShane and Janet Jackson?) Or, fearing a FCC fine, will the sheep at ABC require the show to be strategically re-titled, Penn & Teller: B.S.!?

I’m guessing the latter.

The ceremony will be held September 19, at the Shrine Auditorium, and broadcast by ABC. The winners in those technical, craft and other categories not deemed significant enough to show live -- by ABC and the academy, anyway -- will be awarded their Emmys a week earlier under far less glamorous circumstances.

Full List Of Nominations

- by Gary Dretzka

July 15, 2004